


Where Tides Turn

by Terra_Saltt



Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, Humanstuck, Inspired by The Walking Dead, M/M, Multi, Zombiestuck AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-10
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-06-01 11:05:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,051
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6515905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terra_Saltt/pseuds/Terra_Saltt
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a sea of the living dead separates you and your friends, you think things can't get much worse. Well, that is, until you get picked up by group of walker killing badasses. Your choices are to take your chances with a horde or a group of crazy strangers, and you pick the strangers. They take you away to a place they call The Veil and you meet a very colorful cast of characters who aren't sure what to make of you and vice versa. Will you ever see your friends again? Who are these people and what are they doing with all of this sciencey stuff?? What is the terrible secret their leader is hiding?<br/>Your name is John and you hope you made the right choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Where Tides Turn

**Author's Note:**

> The wall of text below might be important to some people. Don't be afraid to read it, it's very friendly.  
> So I've tried reading a few Zombiestuck AUs and haven't really come across any that I liked. I've had this idea in my head for awhile now, and after watching a straight 12 hour marathon of “The Walking Dead” to get caught up on the new season I've missed in preparation for the big season finale that RIPPED MY FUCKING HEART OUT AND STOMPED IT INTO THE DIRT, I decided I might as well write my own. So here we are: a Zombiestuck AU that blatantly rips off/takes heavy inspiration from my favorite AMC soap opera with zombies but isn't exactly a legit crossover 'cause what I have planned would break the canon of that universe.  
> That being said: Updates will be sloooowwwww. I don't want to lull anyone into a false sense of security here and writing can be difficult to fit into my busy schedule sometimes. (Being and adult sure is swell, and I've got another fic going at the moment, too. Why do I do this to myself.) If you like to live dangerously and are along for the ride, I thank you and I hope you find it worth your time. (Not to sound like a comment whore, but the more feedback I get, the more motivation I tend to have. >w> 'Tis simply a fact of life.)  
> Another little warning: this fic is not at its core a romance. It will have plenty of romance in it, but it's generally a lot more plot focused. There will be straight, there will be gay, ships will sail, ships will sink, some literal ships might sink, etc. It's all in good fun. This AU is also filled to the brim with some fun headcanons involving the nationalities of the humanized trolls and what-not. It's got its fair amount of offensive language, gore, violence, and maybe even a sex scene or two if I feel up to it. All the good stuff.  
> Wow that's the longest author's note I've ever written! Many apologies. If it ain't already obvious, I like to talk and if you shoot me a PM I'll totally strike up conversation with you.  
> Thanks for reading!

Your name is John Egbert and you are close enough to the ocean to smell it. You'd probably see it if it wasn't so foggy, the low flying clouds are painting the abandoned seaside town in grays and washed out hues. You sit on a rooftop, a sea of humming groans and moaning below you, and you do your best to catch your breath as you think over your dwindling options. Your group was scavenging in the town for supplies only to find that the place had been completely picked over already, and that's when a horde of the living dead came rolling in over the hill out of nowhere. One minute the streets were clear and the next they were swarmed with shambling dead bodies as far as the eye could see. It didn't take long for things to go from bad to worse and you ended up separated from the others while you tried to find safety. You can't stay on this rooftop for long, they know you're here. They are banging on the door behind you and they'll break it down soon. You have to get out of here.

 

===> John: Get out of there.

 

Luckily this town's buildings are very close together, so you can jump from one to another. Thank goodness the walking dead can't jump. You take your backpack off and toss it to the next roof and then get a running start, and just as your shoes hit the other side, the door behind you comes free from its hinges, and the rotting monsters pour out. They plummet to the ground as soon as they reach the edge and you don't bother to watch them splat on the pavement. You have to keep moving. You have to find the others.

If they're alive, that is.

You spend the next few minutes jumping from roof to roof, desperately searching for any sign of Dave, Rose, or Jade. You hope the reason you can't find them is because they found a place to hide. They're probably worried sick about you, too. Should you keep looking or should you try to wait out the horde? You are in the middle of debating with yourself on that question when you hear a far away gunshot that has you spinning around. Not just any gunshot, that was a high powered rifle, which is a sound you've come to know very well.

Jade!

You immediately take off in that direction, your heart in your throat and your adrenaline pumping. If she's firing what few bullets she has left then things must not be good. You don't want to think about what could be happening, you just focus on getting yourself across town as fast as you can. The thick fog parts to reveal the beach, or at least, what would be the beach if there wasn't a tall makeshift wall made of wood and metal sheeting blocking your view. Walls like that mean there are other people around. Organized people. Suddenly the walkers aren't the only thing you have to worry about.

Another gunshot, this time to the right of you and much closer. The walkers hear it and start mindlessly wandering in its direction and so do you. The next rooftop you jump to is slanted and you reach out to grab a rusty storm pipe for balance.

It breaks from your weight with a heart stopping crack.

Your feet can't find purchase on the slick roof tiles.

You fall.

You hit the ground hard and immediately your leg screams with pain, and unable to hold it in, so do you. Your voice bounces off the buildings and through the crowded streets and soon every head in the vicinity turns to you, their gruesome jaws hang open in eternal hunger. They shamble towards you and you struggle to get back up, but you know deep down that you are fucked. Pain shoots up your leg every time you put pressure on it but you know if you don't run you'll be torn to pieces. You'll probably be torn to pieces anyway, there's too many of them! You drop your backpack and unsheathe the gun on your belt just in time to shoot the closest one in the head mere inches before it could grab you. It hits the ground like the rock but behind it are five more, and eight more behind those, and a hundred more surrounding you in every direction.

You are _so_ fucked.

You need to get back to the rooftops but you're not even able to make it to the end of the street before your gun is out of bullets and you desperately take out your knife to make what you know is your final stand. This is it. This is how you die. Alone, swarmed by the dead, ripped to pieces and eaten while you're still conscious. You've seen this happen to others, you remember their blood curdling screams being cut short as blood pours out of their open throats and mouths, you remember the light fading from their terror filled eyes as they are torn apart like a gummy candy in a blender. That is going to be you in a second.

You always hoped you would have some kind of cool one-liner to say in a moment like this, or maybe some meaningful last words, but your mind is blank. Not that it matters, nobody is here to hear you, anyway. Part of you is kind of glad about that, honestly. Jade doesn't need to see her brother die, nor does Dave or Rose. You just wish your final moments didn't feel so helpless as the monsters close in.

The first to reach you snaps its jaws as its boney fingers dig into your arm, gnawing at the air in anticipation of your flesh. You hold it off with all your might, grunting in your struggle to aim your knife for one of its eye sockets where you'll be more likely to pierce the brain in one stab. You might be next on death row, but you're not going down without a fight!

Just as you are about to strike, though, the walker suddenly jolts and goes slack. You feel the cold splatter hit your face and see the gaping hole in its head before the echoing boom of a gun follows, and the walker crumbles to the ground at your feet. There are more right behind it ready to take its place but they, too, drop left and right around you, each taken out by an expert headshot from the familiar sound of a high caliber rifle, one after another.

It's Jade!

Wherever she is, she can see you, and it becomes obvious that she's making a path for you to follow. She must see a way out of this mess from whatever perch she's on! Gritting your teeth past the pain, you are intent on making every one of her bullets count, and you start moving towards the opening she gave you. Even while limping you are faster than most walkers, and the ones you can't dodge are shot before they get a chance to get their grimy hands on you. With your guardian angel on your side, you manage to make it to the end of the street where you expect to find your salvation...only to find with a sickening drop if your stomach that there's a wall of at least two hundred walkers coming right for you from the other direction. Why did your sister lead you here to this death trap?!

You don't have much time to scan the area, but it turns out you don't need to. A door bursts open behind you and you whirl around to see what you aren't sure is something out of your dreams or your nightmares. A tall dark skinned woman in a long black coat and an eye patch heads right for you, slicing right through a walker that's in her way with a sword in her...no, the sword _is_ her hand! The woman knocks over another body and stomps on its head with her red boot and smashes the skull open like a cantaloupe without missing a beat. You're pretty sure it's the most badass thing you have ever seen.

“Come with me if you want to live!” she yells, and if you weren't scared out of your mind, you would have found that line funny. You don't hesitate to take her outstretched hand and she yanks you back towards the door she came from, not giving you any time to stumble, and practically throws you into a hole in the floor of the building that was once a gift shop. You fall for a second time but at least you land in soft cold mud and not concrete. The woman jumps down the hole after you and when she slides a metal plate over the opening, it becomes pitch black and quiet enough for you to hear your own rapid breath echoing off the walls. You can hear hers, too, and the sloshing of you trying to stand up in icy knee-high water, hands feeling blindingly for anything to hold onto in this enclosed space. The slimy walls are made of stone and far too close together for your comfort. Your claustrophobia flares up.

A flashlight turns on with a click and illuminates the creepily quiet underground passage. The only sounds are the ones you and the woman make, as well as faint scuffling and clawing from the horde above. You try to stand all the way up but the back of your head hits the shallow ceiling. Great, just what you need, another bruise. You have to bend over to stand in the small space and the woman does, too, but she's a lot less freaked out about it than you are.

“You are one lucky son of a bitch!” she exclaims, the flashlight under her chin making her features sharp. “That is, unless you do something stupid, in which case your luck will run out real fast, you got that?” She raises her sword arm and it glints threateningly up to her elbow. You gulp and nod, and she looks satisfied with your answer. “Great! Start heading that way and calm the fuck down, you look like you're going to piss yourself.”

“S-sorry, I'm claustrophobic,” you explain shakily and she rolls her eye.

“Whatever. Get moving.” She pushes you somewhat roughly with her gloved hand and you stumble into a walk, grimacing every time you put weight on your bad leg, but the cold water is helping to numb the pain a little. While you focus on not falling face first into the muddy water, you hear the sudden loud static-y sound of a voice coming over a radio. It's male and it has some kind of accent to it. Scottish, maybe? It's hard to tell through the muffled speaker.

“ _Duelscar to Mindfang, what's your status?”_

There is the sound of shuffling clothing behind you, and then a beep before your savior/captor speaks. “Mindfang to Duelscar, I got our guest. We're on our way back in the west tunnel, which exit should I take?” There is a pause before she's answered.

“ _The headcount is lower around sector five, you can try to pop up there.”_

“Sector five is Tinhook Avenue, right?”

“ _For fuck's sake, what's the point of havin' a secret code if you don't even bother to learn it?”_ He sounds annoyed. 'Mindfang' huffs.

“Because it's dumb! Why do we even need a secret code? Just call it Tinhook, we all know what that is.”

“ _We need to keep our assets a secret from lowlifes like the one you just picked up.”_

“Yeah, right. You just think it makes you sound cool. You are such a dweeb.”

“ _I am not!”_

“You so are.”

“ _This from the one who insisted we need to have code names!”_

“Hey, don't act like you weren't the first person to get on board!”

A new voice interrupts their bickering. This one is louder and sounds even more irritated than the last. _“Do I need to remind you two chucklefucks that the radio is for relaying important information, and that arguing over trivial bullshit is not only dangerous for the sake of our communication, but a sorry waste of all of our precious time? I don't need a constant stream of idiocy injected directly into my eardrum, thank you very much, I get enough of that thrown in my face every second of my life as it is.”_

“ _She started it.”_

“ _I don't care who started it, I'm ending it! Am I running a survival operation or a fucking daycare?”_

“Fiiiiiiiine. I'll come out at 'sector five' so be ready by the wall, Crabcake. Over.”

“ _For the last time, STOP CALLING ME THAT!”_

“You should stop yelling, you're making a terrible first impression on our guest.”

“ _Like I give a flying fuck what some wandering idiot who's dumb enough to get himself stuck in a horde thinks of me and my rainbow asshole rumpus of a team. Just get yourselves here in one piece, I want to get everyone out of town before shit hits the whirling device.”_

“Roger that, Mindfang out.”

These people are in the middle of a horde and they're treating it like an inconvenience. Who are they? How many of them are there? Where's Jade and the others? Was that not her clearing your way? Your mind races a mile a minute with unanswered questions and apprehension and your steps slow down, prompting Mindfang to roughly nudge you to go faster, which gets an involuntary squeak out of your throat. Normally you aren't so jumpy, but after your near death experience followed by being trapped in a dark cramped tunnel with a crazy woman with a knife at your back, your nerves are so wound up that you feel like a spring about to snap in half.

“Wow kid, it's like you're afraid of me or something,” she says mockingly and you try to take deep slow breaths. “You weren't kidding about that claustrophobia, were you?”

“No,” you answer, your voice sounding too small when it's echoed back at you. “It would help if I knew I was being rescued or t-taken captive...”

“That depends on you. See, I'm on a tight schedule, and I don't have the time for entertaining biter-bait. If you do exactly what I say, then you won't die, simple as that. Nut up, shut up, and keep up, or you can take your chances with the neighbors upstairs. Simple. Think you can handle that, kid?”

You swallow thickly and nod. Looks like you don't have a choice either way. She and the others wouldn't go through all of this trouble if they were going to hurt you, would they? A gloved hand touches your shoulder and you flinch, expecting another push, but it simply remains there, neither warm nor cold.

“What's your name, kid?” Mindfang asks.

“John,” you say quickly, “John Egbert. And I'm not a kid.”

“Oh? What are you, twenty?”

“Twenty four.”

“That so? What did you do before the outbreak?”

“I was in med school.”

“A doctor, huh?” her voice rises in pitch when her interest is peeked. Maybe you shouldn't have told her that. “I bet that comes in handy these days.”

“I-I was barely a nurse when it started, but...yeah.”

“Any training is better than none. What's a guy like you doing wandering these parts all alone?”

This is a conversation you would rather not be having. You still can't say if Mindfang and her people are good or bad news and you'd rather not get the rest of your group involved until you know for sure. You couldn't forgive yourself if you lead your friends into a trap.

Mindfang senses your discomfort but doesn't press it. She asks another innocent question as the two of you trudge on. The ground is starting to slope down now. “Where do you come from?”

“Washington.”

“What school were you in?”

“The U-dub in Seattle.”

“Did you like it there?”

“Yeah, it was...it was a nice campus.” Usually you try to be more aloof around new people, but answering these mundane questions takes your mind off your fear. She's not asking anything important, anyway. “Really big. It was like it's own city inside of the city.”

“That's pretty cool. I never had the patience for school. Were you minoring in anything?”

You used to get kind of annoyed when people asked you these things, but now you feel kind of nostalgic about the days that your biggest worries were your GPA. “Microbiology.”

“Pfft, wow, what a nerd.”

It doesn't occur to you until after your breathing has slowed down and your hands have stopped shaking that Mindfang has been asking you these questions to get you to calm down. You appreciate it a lot because you were on the verge of hyperventilating for a minute there. Maybe she's not so bad? You try asking her some questions, too, and she reveals that she was a high school drop out that worked retail until the outbreak started. She jokingly says she was jumping for joy when the world ended...or at least, you hope she's joking. It's kind of hard to pin down whether she's serious or not.

You have no idea how much time has passed since you got down here but it's at least ten minutes into your trek when the voice of 'Duelscar' radios in. _“Duelscar to Mindfang, sector five is compromised. Sector three is your best bet but that won't last long, either.”_

“Are you fucking kidding me? We just got here!”

“ _It's gettin' hairy out here. Biters are startin' to get wise around the wall. You might wanna hurry it up or you'll be sleepin' in the sewer tonight.”_ The idea of spending all night in this personal nightmare of yours makes your face run cold with dread. Mindfang isn't too pleased with that prospect, either.

“Fuck that, I'll lose my legs to hypothermia! There is no way in HELL I'm giving Para-Pan the satisfaction of seeing me in a wheelchair.”

“ _Then you better haul your ass to sector three.”_

“I will as soon as you tell me what the hell sector three is.”

“ _Oh, for the love of – Chuck's Grotto, you halfwit!”_

Mindfang puts the radio away and says under her breath, “You should've just said so, asshole.” She pulls you in another direction down an intersecting hallway and you trust she knows where she's going. The two of you pick up the pace as best you can with what you're starting to think is a sprain in your left ankle and the friendly chit-chat between you two is gone. After a few minutes and two more turns, she stops you and points her flashlight up to illuminate another slab of metal. You stand back as she pries it open with a crowbar and peeks through the gap before sliding it off the hole. When she helps pull you out, you find yourself standing in a dusty restaurant with all of the tables and chairs stacked along the walls.

Relief floods you to be out of the tunnel and you read a sign that says 'Chuck's Seafood Grotto' above a list of delicious sounding food that was once served here. The place is decorated with painted driftwood made to look like clams and fish, some of which are nailed to the windows with other boards and plywood. Through the cracks you see multiple shadows that move languid and aimless, and when you peek outside, you see that you're right across the street from the wall you saw earlier. It's much bigger in person and has spikes sticking out from the base to slow down the dead, which are gathering in a herd even worse than the one you escaped from earlier. It's an impressive structure. Only a group that knows what they're doing can construct something like that. Your group can barely manage to find food, but this one has commandeered an entire town! For what, though? They obviously don't live in it.

Mindfang slides the metal plate over the wooden floor to seal the tunnel again and the scraping noise makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Your companion raises her radio to her mouth. “Mindfang to Crabcake, I'm in the Grotto. You ready to receive us?”

“ _Yes, and I'm ready to throw myself off the wall if you call me that again.”_

“Not until you meet John!” Mindfang's one cerulean eye glances at you with a sly grin. “I have a feeling you're gonna like him.”

“ _I'm oozing with anticipation. Eri – ugh, 'Duelscar' will have to cover you, the herd is getting antsy and you're gonna need to book it to the door if you'll have a crotch hair's chance of making it.”_

“Roger. Someone let me know when it's time to fly.”

“ _Will do. Good luck out there.”_

Mindfang smirks. “Don't you worry, I have _all_ the luck.”

The sound of gunfire starts up again and Mindfang turns her full attention to you. Her gaze is deadly serious. “Listen up, Doc, as soon as I open that door, you and me are going to run straight for the wall. Stay behind me and keep up 'cause I'm not coming back for you if you fall behind, and if you slow me down, you better hope you get sent to hell before I have my way with you, got it?”

“Got it,” you nod. You've already run a gauntlet of the undead twice today, what's one more? You try to stay positive as you take deep breaths and prepare for what's to come. Your bad leg is still pretty numb from the water in the tunnel so you take that as a good sign. You ran track in high school, this will be a piece of cake. No problem. Like a walk in the park.

“ _Get ready, I've almost thinned out a path,”_ says Duelscar, and the two of you are poised. Through the boards on the window you see two more walkers get taken out by two expert shots and it makes you think of Jade. You hope wherever she and the others are, they're safe. _“Now! Go now!”_

Mindfang throws the door open and both of you hit the ground running. Even numbed, your leg hurts like a bitch, but you push through it with every ounce of mangrit you have and stay on Mindfang's heels. She only hesitates when she needs to slice a walker's head off that got in her way, not even batting an eye at the splatters of gore soiling her clothes and skin in the process like something out of a Hollywood action movie. What you would give to see this in slow motion with awesome music playing in the background.

You don't have a sword for an arm, so the most you can do is dodge the outstretched hands closing in around you. There isn't time to think about how insane this is, you can only run and pray that you make it to the metal door that opens to reveal a short man with choppy red hair, who you assume is 'Crabcake.' He shouts at you to hurry up, which distracts some monsters and gives you and Mindfang the chance to slip by before they can close the gap in the herd that Duelscar made. It finally ends when you two burst through the opening onto the safety of the empty beach. The pain in your leg is finally too much for you to stomach and you crash face-first into the sand while Crabcake slams the door behind you and bars it shut with a metal pipe. Everything is still and quiet save for the sound of waves lapping at the shore for all of two seconds before Mindfang lets out a holler.

“Now THAT is how you make an entrance! Fuck yeah!” You lift your face to see her proudly wiping her bloody blade arm on the ripped sleeve of her ruined coat and she cackles like a Saturday morning cartoon villain. She isn't shaken at all by what just happened, she stands tall and proud and points to the monsters behind the wall, hand on her hip and hair fluttering in the salty breeze. “This is the day you'll always remember as the day you almost caught _Captain Spinneret Mindfang!_ ”

You think you're in love.

Crabcake rolls his eyes. “It's also the day I almost prayed to Gamzee's bullshit clown gods for divine intervention, 'cause I'm not gonna lie, the odds of you two making it back here were about as low as snake's asshole.”

“Clown gods had nothing to do with it. I'm just awesome like that.”

“I'm sure you couldn't have cut it any closer if you tried. What the fuck took you so long?!”

“Not my fault, John has a busted leg.”

“Busted from what?” he leans over you and peers suspiciously at the limb in question.

“I fell,” you say, and even you can hear how fake that sounds. There's only one thing on people's minds when it comes to injuries these days. “I'm not bit,” you assure, only for him to look even more suspicious. The dark bags under his eyes give his glare an extra edge to it.

“Take off your pants.”

“Woah, dinner and a movie first, Karkat! Yeesh,” Mindfang snorts. Crabcake, or as you now know him, Karkat, ignores her. He places his hand on the gun on his hip, sending you a not-so-subtle threat.

“Pants off. _Now._ ”

You do as you're told. Your jeans are wet and hard to pry off, and moving your leg irritates your injury further, but you eventually get down to your underwear and let the two of them inspect you. You don't blame them for being paranoid, you would be, too. It doesn't take long for them to see that there's no bite anywhere on your lower half, but there is a dark bruise forming around your ankle. Yeah, definitely a sprain. Karkat lets out a breath he was holding and his shoulders visibly relax some.

Until a loud creaking sound makes all three of your heads turn towards the wall.

“ _This is getting bad,”_ Duelscar says and you hear him on both of their radios. _“That stunt has the whole horde knockin' on our door, the wall ain't gonna hold much longer!”_

“Bag him and get to the boat,” Karkat commands and Mindfang hoists you up off the sand, barely giving you time to grab your pants off the ground. Karkat leads the way towards a pier extending into the water with a solitary white speedboat docked at the far end barely visible in the fog. Now it makes some sense why they have this one section of the beach so well secured. “Sollux, get ready, as soon as Eridan gets here we're getting the fuck out.”

“ _Aye aye.”_ Right after that new voice on the radio confirms Karkat's order, the boat's engine roars to life. The moans and groans of the walkers increases, too. The wall creaks with the weight of what must be hundreds of them pushing on the barrier in unison, desperately trying to get at the morsels of fresh meat on the other side.

Mindfang pulls out a thin nylon rope from her coat pocket and tells you she can either tie your hands together or cut them off, your choice. Obviously you choose to have them tied. You're not sure how she does it one handed so well but she expertly secures your wrists together in front of you and then hooks your left arm in her right to help you hobble your way to the pier. On your way you notice a taut cable that connects the tall wooden posts on the dock to a rusty water tower a short distance away on the other side of the wall, and there's a silhouette of another person standing on the walkway. It looks like they have some kind of sniper rifle. That must be Duelscar? It really wasn't Jade that was protecting you, then. You have no idea where your sister or your friends are, and you're about to get on a boat with some strangers that will take you far away from where you last saw them. Your stomach churns nervously, enough that you feel ill.

“W-wait,” you say and stop walking. Mindfang looks at you from the side like she knows what's coming.

“What?”

You feel trapped between a rock and a hard place. “I-I...there's others that are still...”

She sighs. “Look, I kinda figured you were with a group, but there's nothing we can do about it. We took a big enough risk as it is just saving your ass.” You bite your lip as her words sink in. They're out there, alone, maybe even dead, and there's nothing you or anyone can do about it. You feel utterly helpless. Mindfang sees your distress and gives you a quick shake to snap you out of it. “We've got safe zones all over the town. If they're smart, they'll find one and hunker down for a few days to let this blow over. We drew most of the biters to the beach with the ruckus we made, too, so I'd say they have a chance.”

You hold onto hope that she's right.

“Did I say you two could stand there and have a feelings jam? No, I said get to the fucking boat!” Karkat yells at you from the pier. That and the creaking of stressed wood and metal get you moving again. The wall is bending now and you can only imagine how many walkers are piling up on the other side.

Your feet leave the land and Mindfang guides you up the planks, dark murky water framing you on both sides. Karkat is undoing the knot that keeps the boat tethered to the pier when you step onto the small vessel and are pushed into the corner. The lanky man with shaggy light brown hair sitting in the driver's seat turns around to look at you.

“So this is the guy that fucked up our mission?” he asks calmly with a raised eyebrow behind oddly tinted glasses. You notice a lisp when he talks.

“Yup,” Mindfang confirms and drops heavily into the seat across from you. “His name is John and he's a doctor.”

He doesn't seem all that impressed. “Uh-huh. And why is he pants-less?” Oh yeah, you forgot about that. You embarrassingly start prying the wet denim back on and it's tricky with your hands tied.

“We checked him for bites.”

“And?”

“He's clean.”

“Ah. What a shame.” The driver, you think his name is Sollux, turns around and leaves you wondering what he meant by that. Shouldn't it be the opposite? “Welcome aboard, John.”

“Thanks...?”

“You're a doctor?” Karkat asks with a pointed look as he throws a pile of rope in by your feet.

“Uh, not exactly. Med student.” You don't want to toot your own horn in case they decide to hold you hostage, but it works as a good reason not to kill you. They don't seem like the savage type but you know well enough after an encounter with a seemingly pleasant group of cannibals a month ago not to judge a book by its cover.

“Close enough,” Mindfang flippantly waves her sword arm in the air like a toy and not a brutal killing device. “The point is, you guys got something in common. Crabcake here is a doctor, too.”

“Geneticist,” Karkat corrects with a grumble. “And I swear to undead Christ, if you call me that one more time, you're gonna have to swim your way back to the Veil. Don't test me, Serket.”

Mindfang sticks her tongue out at him and that's when Duelscar radios in. _“I'm comin' down now.”_

“Let's see you stick the landing this time, ED,” Sollux snickers.

“ _How about I stick it right up your ass, piss-face?”_

“You'd like that, wouldn't you?”

“ _No, YOU'RE_ _the sick freak that would like it!”_

“Boys, boys, save the sexual tension for later! You're making our guest blush.” They tell Mindfang to shut up in unison and she laughs. What a strange dynamic this group has.

From here you can hardly see the water tower through the fog, but you see something coming down the cable like a zip line. In fact, it _is_ a zip line. A duffel bag and a large blue painted sniper rifle hit the bar at the bottom and swing for a moment before Karkat jogs over and disconnects them from the swing.

“You're clear,” he tells the radio. The ginger has slung them over his shoulders and is bringing them back to the boat when Duelscar sends himself down the zip line next, and he emerges from the fog with a blue scarf and open long purple coat fluttering behind him. You're given whiplash just watching him hit the bar at full speed and swing back and forth a few times before he jumps off, nearly falling over when his feet touch the dock, and you don't blame him for being dizzy. He collects himself and briskly marches over the wood planks towards the boat, giving you the chance to get a good look at the mysterious fourth member of this party.

Duelscar is just a little shorter than Mindfang and the thing that stands out the most about him is the streak of purple dead center in his bright blonde windswept hair. A pair of thick rimmed glasses is perched on his nose and there is at least one ring on each finger of his hand when he lifts it to adjust them. His walk is interrupted by a loud crack that echoes over the water and he whirls around to watch the wall finally collapse, and the full force of the horde stumbles over itself to invade the beach.

“Motherfucker!” the sniper swears and runs the rest of the way to the boat that is already starting to drift away from the dock. He jumps in right in the knick of time and falls into the seat next to Mindfang.

The boat's engine roars as Sollux hits the gas to take you away from the rapidly approaching dead. They funnel onto the dock and mindlessly fall into the water after you, only to sink like rocks. Others walk straight into the waves and are pushed around helplessly by the tide before they disappear. Their efforts are in vain as you speed away, leaving the town, and your friends, behind in a curtain of fog.

“Congratu-fucking-lations, everyone, we're not dead!” Karkat shouts over the motor. He sits in the passenger seat next to Sollux and turns around to face you. “No thanks to you, _John.”_ He reaches over and smacks you on the head, which catches you by surprise more than it hurts. “That's for fucking everything up!”

“S-sorry!”

“You better be! As if anything else could go wrong, _ugh._ ” He turns back around with a huff and crosses his arms bitterly. Mindfang rolls her eye at him.

“Don't mind him, he just gets a little crabby when things don't go his way.”

“Shut the fuck up, Bitchfang.”

“That's Captain Bitchfang to you.” The woman crosses her legs and leans back in her seat with an easy grin like she's on vacation. The blond man is not so nonchalant about this whole thing and he openly stares at you. As if you need him to make you feel more uneasy than you already do.

“Sooo...uh...thanks for saving me and stuff,” you tell him, hoping that showing your gratitude might lighten his mood a little. It can't hurt. “I was in deep shit back there before you got me out.”

“Yeah, ya sure were.” He gives no indication that he appreciates your olive branch.

“Eridan, stop acting tough, John's alright.”

“How can you possibly know that? You just met him!” Irish. His accent is definitely Irish now that you're hearing him clearly.

“Yeah, but he's a dork. Kinda like you.” He sends her a glare which she eats up like candy. They all seem to enjoy taking the piss out of Duelscar, who you now know is named Eridan. “You ain't a threat, are ya, John?”

“No, of course not!” You don't know how, but you somehow managed to land on her good side and you are going to kiss her ass to keep it that way until further notice. Eridan looks you up and down, still not entirely convinced.

“I'm watchin' you.” He narrows his eyes and sinks into the leather seat. “One wrong move and you'll be sleepin' with the fishes. I can blow the wings off a butterfly from half a mile away so don't even think about runnin'.”

“Where would he run to, ED? It's a boat.”

“Shut up, Sol.”

Everything around you is completely shrouded in clouds, making it feel like you are lost in a void. The boat glides over the water, slicing through waves and spraying mist in your wake, and the fog only seems to get thicker the farther out you go. You feel small and defenseless sitting alone on your empty side of the boat, but things could be worse, you suppose. At least you're alive, and you've been picked up by some strange, but so far nice, people. Nice enough. You hope they're nice. You've been tricked one too many times before.

“You're pretty quiet,” Karkat says after a few minutes, turning back around to face you. “As much as I love a rare moment of silence around here, it's putting me off.”

“Sorry, I kind of just assumed I was along for the ride,” you shrug awkwardly. It's good to know you're allowed to ask questions, though. “Where are you taking me? Am I your prisoner?”

“We're taking you to a magical fairytale land where everything is made of high fructose corn syrup and all of your dreams can come true,” Karkat answers sarcastically. “Usually I'd conduct an extensive interview before taking a wandering idiot to our home base, but circumstances aren't so ideal, so for now: yes, you can consider yourself our prisoner. I'm going to have you under surveillance 24/7, to the point that you won't even be able to pass gas without someone knowing about it. There will be no special treatment and no favors. If you answer every question truthfully and don't do anything that might peg you as a threat to the safety of me and my team, then I might consider letting you live. We aren't the bad guys, but if you force our hand, nobody here is afraid to execute you on the spot. Do I make myself clear?” You nod. He clears his throat. “Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?”

“Yessir.”

Karkat gives you a nod back. “Good. Now, tell me how big your group is and where the hell they are.”

Way to start with the worst question. You already kind of dropped the ball letting Mindfang know that you weren't alone, so lying now would probably get you tossed over the side of the boat. You have no choice but to be truthful. “It's just me and three others. We got separated when the horde showed up, I don't know where they are now.”

“How did you get separated?”

“We were trying to climb up a ladder and there was a mob after us. We weren't all going to make it in time so I distracted the walkers for them. We were supposed to meet up on the rooftops, but...I never found them.”

“Then what?”

“I heard gunfire. I don't know if it was theirs or yours, but when I tried to follow it, I fell off and hurt my leg. It's a sprain, I think.”

“You ran that fast on a sprain? Damn, kid,” Mindfang whistles. “So that's when you made a ruckus and Eridan spotted you?”

You nod. “Yeah. Then you showed up and...well, you know the rest.”

“So what is your group like? Who's the leader?” Karkat asks.

“We don't really have a leader,” you answer honestly. “It's more of a democracy. I'm sure if there were more of us we'd have a leader but for now we're good enough friends that we can function like that.”

“How many people have you killed?”

The question catches you a little off guard. “Huh?”

“People. Have you or your friends killed any living people?” Everyone is watching you very seriously all of a sudden, even Mindfang. You swallow the lump in your throat, quickly debating whether to give him an answer they'll like to hear or to tell the truth. In the end, enough of a pause has gone by that even if you did lie, it would be too obvious. Jade always did say you were a terrible liar.

“Three,” you say quietly, trying not to think of their faces.

Karkat narrows his eyes. “Why?”

“One of them was was bit and she couldn't do it herself. She asked us to do it.” Dave had been the one to do the deed. He said he was fine, but he didn't talk much for a week after. “The second was a guy that stole our water. One of us was sick and he didn't give us much choice.” Jade sniped him from half a mile away. Rose would have died if you didn't get it back.

“And the third?”

This one you did with your own two hands. It was disturbingly easy. “...He was going to kill my sister.”

Your confession is met with a brief quiet. You have no idea what they think of you right now. You like to think your actions have been justified up to this point but sometimes you lay awake at night wondering. Karkat eventually clears his throat.

“How far have you traveled?”

The change of subject is welcome. “We started in Washington when the panic started. We tried going north, but some hostile gangs forced us out of that area. Then we went east to investigate a rumor that the government set up a safe zone in DC, but that turned out to be a lie. Now we're kind of just wandering.”

“Sounds like you're at the end of your rope.”

“...Pretty much.” The last month has been a struggle to keep up the group's moral. “What about you guys? Do I get to know about you and where we're going?”

The three of them that aren't driving the boat look between each other briefly. A decisive look is shared and Karkat answers you with another question. “Have you ever seen the movie Waterworld?”

“Uh, yeah? It was one of my favorites. Why?”

“Because that's pretty much what we are. Also, what the fuck? You actually _liked_ that trash?”

“It was an underrated classic,” you defend, a small smile coming to your face. Talking about movies is a favorite pastime of yours.

“Waterworld was a shit show, what is wrong with you?!”

“It was really ahead of its time. I don't blame you if you didn't get all the subtle intricacies of its plot.”

“Holy fuck, Sollux, stop the boat. I need to drown myself.”

You laugh. It feels good to laugh after all of the tension and fear you've been choked with for the past few hours. You feel kind of guilty laughing while you don't know if your friends are alive or dead, but you really needed it. “So you all live on boats in the middle of the ocean? What's your group like? Who's the leader?”

“Yes, we live on boats, our group is a ragtag assortment of various degrees of lunacy, and you're looking at him.”

“Oh. That's cool. You seem to have everything down to a science.”

“You bet your ass we do, and we'd like to keep it that way. That's why we're not taking any chances with you until we know for sure that you and your friends aren't dangerous psychopaths hellbent on destroying everything we've worked so hard for. I can't let you go if you see what we have and know where we live, so you'll have to stick around for awhile until we figure out what to do with you. The work I'm doing is vital to the survival of our species and I won't have some buck-toothed dick licking fuckass screwing it up. You're already on strike one in my book, so be a good boy and be on your best behavior. If you prove yourself trustworthy, I might even let you walk around without a leash.”

“I'll try not to rock the boat, Captain.”

“Hey, I'M the captain around here,” Mindfang points her sword at you and the tip of the blade is only inches from your nose, making you flinch.

“Stop wavin' that thing around before you take someone else's eye out,” Eridan scolds and pushes her arm away from you. “You ain't a captain, Vris, you're just some crazy lass we drudged up from a half sunk dingy.”

“I was a captain before that,” she huffs, then adds in a grumble, “until my crew committed mutiny.”

“Gee, I wonder why. It couldn't have anything to do with how you're a colossal bitch, would it?” Karkat asks sarcastically and Mindfang just shrugs.

“Is your real name Vris?”

“It's Vriska. Vriska Serket. You're gonna remember that name, I guarantee it,” she winks at you and you don't doubt her words. So far she is one of the most interesting people you have ever met. “You're gonna like life in the Veil, John. Stick with me and I'll show you all the ropes. Well, all the ropes Karkat will let me, anyway.”

“Which are none.”

“Pshhh.”

Sollux cuts in and talks to Karkat. “We're within radio range. You wanna hail them?”

Karkat nods and grabs the radio that is wired to the boat. He presses and holds the button while he speaks in a very official tone. “Attention: this is your leader speaking. We'll be at the rendezvous in about five minutes, are we visible on the radar yet? Over.”

A moment later, a female voice answers. _“I can't see anything, but I'm guessing that beeping noise is you, over.”_ Karkat nearly chokes on air.

“Oh my god, Terezi, who the fuck put you in charge of the lookout?!”

“ _Feferi had to take a tinkle break so I slipped in to cover for her. And you forgot to say over, over.”_

“Oh, great, that's perfect! Have the blind girl cover for the lookout, I've never heard of such a brilliant idea! OVER.”

“ _I know, right? That's what I said! Over.”_

“I can't trust you morons to stay on top of things for a mere three hours without me, can I? It's like you're all actively trying to get us all sunk by the first shitnut to come across us. I bet you're flashing spotlights in the sky and blasting our coordinates over a fucking loudspeaker, too. Might as well have a big tea party with our mortal enemies.”

“ _You know, that's actually not a bad idea, Karkles! We'll try it next time. Hehehe! Over.”_

Karkat groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Just let me know when Feferi gets back. We have a situation on our hands, over.”

“ _What kind of situation? Did you get your specimen? Over.”_

“Yeah, a live one. Over.”

“ _Wait, what?”_

“I'll tell you when the proper lookout gets back so I don't have to repeat myself. In the meantime, go tell Nepeta to prepare a guest room. Over.”

Every conversation between these people is fascinating, though it only gives you more questions. They have a blind girl on board? What did she mean by specimen? Come to think of it, what was Karkat and his crew doing before they found you? Why did they risk going to land in the middle of a horde? You suppose you will find out soon.

 


End file.
